Ark of the covenant found, in the bible,
history

The Ark of the Covenant, is one of the
most sacred and terrible objects of God. It is a sacred chest of wood and
gold that enclose the 10 tablets of the law. It is said that the ark
stopped whole armies, demolished walls and was able to open the waters of
the rivers. Currently experts say it is hidden in Jerusalem or secretly
guarded in a church in Ethiopia.

The quest for the mythical Ark of the Covenant, one of the most
mythical treasures of the Old Testament and built according to the precise
instructions of God at the foot of Mount Sinai, has lasted tens of
centuries and has fired the imagination of theologians, adventurers And
archaeologists.

In the bible

The Bible, in Exodus 25: 10-22, describes it in great detail: it was a
kind of acacia wood, covered inside and out with pure gold, measuring 2.5
cubits long and 1.5 cubits long. Width and height (about 1.25 meters long
by 0.75 meters wide and 0.75 meters high). A golden cornice or garland
surrounded its upper part, and on the outside was fixed four rings of gold
on both sides, through which were inserted two long poles, also made of
acacia wood covered with gold, to be able to carry it. Its top cap, called
"propitiatory", was solid gold and had on top the image of two gold
cherubim, one facing the other and with the wings unfolded, that looked
towards the center of the box. Between the cherubim and the mercy seat
there was an open space-a kind of sacred triangle-which was called the
oracle, and was the most sacred part of the Ark. There the LORD made his
decrees to Israel. "There," the Lord had told Moses, "I will meet you from
the mercy seat, from the midst of the two cherubim placed on the ark of
the Testimony, I will tell you everything that is to be ordered for the
Israelites." (Ex. 25, 22).

Once the Ark was built, the Bible tells us that "Moses gave two tables of
testimony, two tables of stone written with the finger of God, on Mount
Sinai. And Moses took the testimony and put it into the Ark. "(Book of
Exodus). A later legend, told in a letter to the Hebrews, relates that
apart from the" testimony "or tables of the law with the 10 commandments,
there Also the rod of Aaron that reverdeció and a vessel with the Manna
that fell of the sky and fed to the Israeli town in the desert were kept.
The Ark of the Covenant, which represented the covenant between God and
the Jewish people, was henceforth transformed into the most sacred object
for Israel. It was located in the sancta sanctorum or holiest place of the
tabernacle or of the Temple. Its utility was varied, for it was not only
destined to contain the sacred elements described above, but also had the
reputation of being a weapon capable of protecting the chosen people,
being an executor of the punishments of God. The meanings of the Ark thus
went beyond the symbolic: to have the Ark was to have God.

His transportation and care was reserved only to the tribe of the
Levites. After leaving Egypt and during nomadic life and expeditions in
the desert of the Jewish people, the Ark always went before the people
because it showed which way to go and where to stop every night. And when
it was lifted up, the priests would say, "Arise, O Lord, that your enemies
may be scattered, let those who hate you flee before you." If some enemy
tribe attacked, the Israelites took the Ark to the front of the battle and
the enemy fled in terror (Nm 10, 34-35). The ark was always covered by a
veil of protection, plus a layer of fine leather, and a purple cloth.

Powers

The Bible tells us that the Ark of the Covenant had exceptional and
incomprehensible powers. He could stop the course of rivers, crush
mountains and destroy entire armies. When the people of Israel arrived in
the Promised Land and the Jews met the Jordan River, the Ark of the
Covenant stopped the waters of the torrent so that the Hebrews could cross
it. (Jos 3: 14-17): "And when they that bare the ark came to the Jordan,
and the feet of the priests that bare the ark touched the shore of the
waters ... the waters that came down from above stopped and formed a Only
block at great distance ...).
But perhaps his most impressive feat was the destruction of the walls of
Jericho. The Bible recounts that in order to do so, the Israelites
wandered around the city for six days with the Ark of the Covenant on
their backs. On the seventh day they made seven rounds, they cried out for
war, they let their trumpets hear, and the walls fell like castles of
cards (Jos 6: 1-20).

History

When the Israelites came to the Promised Land, the Ark was placed in the
city of Gilgal, and a small shrine was built for it. Later she was
transferred to Shechem, then to Bethel and finally to Silo, her first
long-term residence. There she was taken care of by the family of the
priest Elí. Many years later, during a bloody war against the Philistines,
the Ark was carried to the Israeli camp in order to raise the morale of
the warriors. But after a tragic defeat of the Hebrews, where the two sons
of the judge and the Israelite priest Eli also died, the Philistines took
it as a valuable trophy, unleashing a real mourning throughout the land of
Israel. The Philistines believed that the taking of the Ark meant a
victory for their gods over the God of Israel, so they took her to the
city of Ashdod and placed it as a war trophy in the temple of their god
Dagon. The next morning, however, they found the statue of Dagon lying
face down in front of the Ark, so they lifted it and put it back in its
place. But the next morning they found Dagon again on the floor, only this
time he had no head and no hands.
At the same time a cruel disease (the bubonic plague perhaps) lashed the
asdodeos, whereas a terrible invasion of rats afflicted to all the
surrounding territory. These punishments were immediately attributed to
the presence of the Ark within the walls of the city, so the Philistines
moved the Ark to Gath and to Ekron, places where it caused the same
lashes. Finally, after seven months of frightful events, at the suggestion
of their priests and fortune-tellers, the Philistines decided to give up
their dreadful trophy and put it on a chariot pulled by two cows without a
driver and sent it through the fields to go where I would like.
The cart, thus, came alone to the Jewish city of Beth Shemesh. There, the
Israelites went out to meet him, but recklessly they opened the Ark and
looked inside. All fell struck. Amazed, the inhabitants of Bet Shemesh
decided to get rid of the Ark, and sent it to the neighboring city of
Kiryat Yearim, where it remained forgotten 20 years. King David then
remembered her and decided to take her to Zion. He put it in a cart pulled
by oxen and organized a procession. But at a certain moment, by a sudden
movement of the animals, the cart staggered, and a man named Uzzá, to
prevent the Ark from falling to the ground, tried to hold it. And scarcely
touched it fell dead.
When the Ark finally arrived in Jerusalem, it was deposited in a little
tent, like a sanctuary, built by David. And when years later his son
Solomon built the Temple of Jerusalem, it was definitely placed in the
most sacred part of it. And it is curiously there, in the most protected
and safe place of all that was, where, around the year 900 BC, his track
was lost forever. This gave rise to a quest that has inspired believers
and fortune hunters for millennia.

What hidden forces did this vault hide?

An object that sent forth rays of divine light, could stop the course of
rivers, crush walls, destroy armies, cause illness or kill by contact had
to contain secret powers. Many ventured that the Ark was a condenser, a
nuclear weapon or an electrified safe. In 1948 the physicist Maurice
Denis-Papin affirmed that the Ark was an electrical capacitor "capable of
producing powerful discharges of up to 700 volts". Later Erich von
Däniken, in his book "Memories of the Future" (1968), said that this "was
a kind of radio transmitter between Yahweh and Moses." And the famous
Spanish writer J.J. Benitez affirmed that it was "a deadly weapon" in the
service of the people of God. Current scientists define it as a kind of
technological object, since it combined a conductive material such as gold
with another insulation such as wood. The gold plates inside and outside,
separated by acacia wood, transformed it into something very similar to an
electric capacitor, formed by a pair of conductive surfaces separated by a
dielectric material.

Where is the Ark?

The search for the Ark, as well as the Holy Grail, has been the object of
many people's desire for centuries. The German historian Otto Rahn, for
example, goes no further, as it is told in the famous films of the saga of
Indiana Jones, affirms that the Nazis pursued both relics with dedication.
There are many theories to explain the present whereabouts of the Ark.
Some hold that the Babylonians, commanded by King Nebuchadnezzar II, after
conquering Jerusalem in 586 BC, seized the Ark, destroyed it, and melted
its gold. Others argue that during this invasion, it was hidden by temple
priests. According to the book of the Maccabees, the prophet Jeremiah took
the Ark and hid it in Mount Nebo ("The prophet after a revelation sent the
tent and the Ark to be carried away, and went out to the mountain where
Moses had gone up to And when Jeremiah came in, he found a cave-dwelling,
and there he put the tent, the ark, and the altar of incense, and covered
the entrance: some of his companions returned to mark the way, but they
could not find him.
As soon as Jeremiah knew this, he rebuked them by saying, "This place will
remain unknown until God reunites his people and is propitious to him. The
Lord will then show all this; And the glory of the Lord and the cloud
shall appear, as it was in the time of Moses ").
The British newspaper The Telegraph, in a report on the Ark, endorsed this
theory by interviewing Rabbi Chaim Richman, who claimed that the holy
relic was located one kilometer from the current Temple of Jerusalem,
"hidden in underground chambers, dug in the days Of Solomon. " Richman
added that "Jews have an unbroken chain of information recorded and
transmitted from generation to generation, indicating their exact
position. We know where the Ark has been for thousands of years. We could
dig to get it out, but this area is controlled by the Muslims. "

However, other historians and scholars are inclined to believe that the
Ark would be in Ethiopia, jealously guarded in the cathedral of Tsion
Maryam, in Axum, where it would have been guarded for centuries by
Orthodox monks of the city. The Ark would have been taken from Jerusalem
by King Solomon's son Emperor Menelik I, who took her first to the island
of Elefantina near the Nile River and then to a kind of tabernacle on the
island of Tana Cherkos (Tana Kirkos), located on Lake Tana, where it
remained for 800 years. Later, Ezana king of Ethiopia decided to transfer
the Ark of the Alliance to Axum, considered like the Jerusalem of
Ethiopia. There is a variety of archaeological evidence to support this
theory, such as the existence of relics belonging to the Jewish people of
the time of the Ark, who belonged to the temple of Jerusalem. In addition,
strangely the Ark is the focal point of worship and Christian worship in
Ethiopia: each of the 20,000 temples in Ethiopia contains a replica of the
Ark of the Covenant.
In 1989 British journalist Graham Hancock endorsed this theory by claiming
that the legendary relic was not lost but safe in an Ethiopian church,
where it had been secretly moved over a thousand years ago (circa 1650
BC). The Orthodox patriarch of Ethiopia, Abuna Paulos, in fact, confessed
a few years ago that he had "seen" the Ark of the Covenant and that its
state of conservation was "good."
For the time being, the most orthodox affirm that the whereabouts of this
mythical and fabulous sacred chest, a visible sign of the presence and
protection of God, as the prophet Jeremiah said, will remain "unknown
until God reunites his people And be propitious "

Found

It seems to be that the Ark is in Ethiopia and that humanity is about to
attend his Revelation: The Coptic Orthodox Patriarch of Ethiopia, Abuna
Paulos, has just pronounced about the relic and has assured in a press
conference, At the Hotel Aldrovandi in Rome, who "has seen" the Ark of the
Covenant and its state of conservation is "good". Paulos believes that the
moment of truth has come, he affirms that he can not say where the Ark is,
but rather ensure that he has seen it and that it is as described in the
Bible.

According to the Ethiopian Coptic Orthodox tradition, the Ark of the
Covenant is guarded in the cathedral of Tsion Maryam in the kingdom of
Axum in Ethiopia after it was stolen from Jerusalem by the son of King
Solomon-the Emperor Menelik I-, and taken to Axum, considered as the
Jerusalem of Ethiopia. In Axum has been guarded for centuries and until
today, by Orthodox monks of the city ...
Paulos stressed that he has invited Pope Benedict XVI to visit Ethiopia
and the holy city of Axum where an important museum will be built,
although it remains to be decided whether it will be the place to keep the
true Ark of the Covenant.
Will the Pope be the next to see the Ark, before the world attends his
revelation?
And one last question; If indeed the relic has been all this time in
Ethiopia,
How the world has not noticed before? The answer will have to be found
once more in the legend.

How the Ark comes from Israel to Ethiopia

3000 years ago the Ark was brought to Jerusalem and worshiped as the most
sacred of sacred objects, for the people of that time, the Ark meant the
personification of the presence of God on Earth. However, at some point in
that remote past, the Ark disappeared, this gave rise to a quest that has
inspired believers and fortune hunters for millennia.
The Bible tells us that in the time of Solomon and Saba, Menelik I was
born, his offspring son and first king of Ethiopia.
Years later Menelik was sent to his father's house in Jerusalem to receive
education, despite Solomon's efforts to stay, Menelik returned to Ethiopia
with the first son of the high priest. Tradition says that they took the
Ark with them and placed it in a temple on Elephantine Island near the
Nile River, where it remained for 800 years.
But what happened after those 800 years? Ethiopia was converted to
Christianity and the Christian king arrived with his armies, took the Ark
to Axum and placed it in the Church of Santa Maria de Sion where it has
been since.
Curiously, the Ark is the focal point of worship and Christian worship in
Ethiopia, each of the 20,000 churches in Ethiopia contains a replica of
the Ark of the Covenant.

The mystery will be revealed

The countdown has begun, so that the mystery of the sacred Ark of the
Covenant may finally be revealed. In more than 200 references the Old
Testament describes in detail the amazing legendary powers of the Ark,
capable, among others, of releasing bursts of divine light and whose rays
can incinerate anyone.
According to Jewish tradition, there are tables of the Law, ie the Ten
Commandments and among its materials we can find acacia wood. Built by
Moses, it is decorated with gold on the outside and was in the possession
of the Jewish people long ago: it accompanied them in their vicissitudes,
in their battles and their struggles against the Philistines and remained
in various places until King David thought to place it in The fortress in
Jerusalem.
But it was Solomon, David's son and successor, who finally set the Ark in
the Temple of Jerusalem, which he himself had built. This history
intertwines with other historical and religious events. In fact, the Ark
disappeared in 586 BC, with the conquest of Jerusalem by the Babylonians
and the subsequent destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.
During the reign of Solomon, Jerusalem became the center of political and
religious life in the holy land. In the heart of Jerusalem was erected the
temple built by Solomon to cover the Ark of the Covenant, the Ark remained
in the temple until something after 900 BC. When, mysteriously, it
disappeared.
Since then no great mention of it was made in the Bible. Inexplicably, the
Ark disappeared and during more than 2000 years of search and exploration
tens of legends and theories have been woven around the Lost Ark.

The search for the Ark by the Templars

Almost 1000 years ago, the Christian crusades regained control of
Jerusalem from the hands of the Muslims who had ruled the city since the
seventh century. In 1119 AD, a group of nine French nobles, calling
themselves the poor knights of Christ and the temple of Solomon, arrived
in Jerusalem. They settled on the top of the hill, where once stood the
temple of Solomon.
The knights maintained that their mission on holy ground was to keep the
road to Jerusalem free from bandits.
However, they never left the temple mountain and, instead, began to dig.
Working from outside the mosque they began to dig the natural cave that
lay beneath the sacred stone. The cave, according to Islamic tradition,
was known as the "well of souls", a passage that led to the bowels of the
earth and led to a treasure guarded by demons;
In fact, what the knights sought was the Ark of the Covenant. But they
never found her.
In more recent times, Israeli archaeologists discovered the tunnel exit
that the mountain-temple knights dug. The tunnel extends below the
mountain, but due to restrictions imposed by the Muslim government, has
never been explored.
In 1989 a British journalist made a statement that shook the world. The
legendary Lost Ark was not actually lost but safe, hidden in a church in
Ethiopia where it had been secretly moved over 1000 years ago.
Now we have news of the existence of the Ark in Ethiopia.

If the authenticity of the relic is confirmed, we can expect any kind of
response from the different religious communities that have had a
relationship with the sacred Ark in the past. Perhaps the pros and cons of
telling the truth should be valued, it may be preferable that the mystery
remain around the Ark of the Covenant and its enigmas remain unveiled.